Wherever there is conflict in the world and enemies have agreed to let a third party or neutral force come in to try and maintain the peace, it is usually the familiar blue helmets of the United Nations that we see on the scene.

The actual definition of peacekeeping is a bit unclear and it was never written into the original UN Charter, but it goes something like «using military personnel from different countries under the command of the UN to control and resolve armed conflicts either between or within states». Peacekeeping is neither just finding out the facts nor full-scale military intervention, but something in between.

Over the last ten years it has become clear that for peacekeeping to work certain things must already be in place — the conflicts must actually have finished and there must be a genuine desire for peace on both sides. The peacekeeping force must have clear international support and a mandate that shows it is strictly neutral; and it needs adequate resources to do the job.